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Hi all #128512; I am planning on ripping my lot and farming/ raising livestock .I would love to know if you have any recommendations on people to hire to rip the land. How much would it cost to rip 3 acres (well) . Im hoping they can rip the land , grind the rock to be as small of gravel as possible and be able to leave a good amount of the native trees on my lot. I'm in Hawaiian acres at about 950 feet elevation. It's not to heavy with trees. After you ripped your lot did you have to amend it? Lime, compost, cover crop? I would like to rip the land then seed it with alfalfa, clover and pasture seed to prevent to many weeds from taking over and beginning to add organic matter to the soil. What would you recommend for me to do in steps ? If I need to add lime, how much would you apply to 3 acres and how much would it cost? Any one know how much truck loads of soil cost and how many would be needed to add 10 inches of soil? I know I will have to resurch myself but I'm just asking I case anyone else has already attempted this method. Mahalo #128512;
Theresa
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A ripped lot in Hawaiian Acres would be all rock when done so yes you must add soil. A thorough job of ripping would still leave grapefruit and larger sized rock everywhere. A thorough job of ripping is also inconsistent with leaving lots of trees. Many trees will die if the land nearby is ripped since the roots are getting crushed. Sometimes you can rip all around a large tree and it will live and sometimes it will die. Unfortunately the native trees are most likely to be Ohia and they are particularly sensitive to nearby bulldozer activity, while the most common invasive tree is the strawberry guava and it sometimes re-roots after being ripped out and dumped in a pile.
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Thank you. That is really helpful. Do most people bring In mulch or soil or both ? Did you add lime?
Theresa
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Doing the whole 3 acres would be very costly.
If you are looking at buying in HA because it is cheaper than the other neighborhoods his method probably isn't for you.
I'd recommend starting with a small area maybe ~ 1/2 acre to start and try what you are suggesting. If you have success then you could try for more - or you may decide 1/2 is more than enough.
Without machinery or animals contending with weeds on 3 acres will be several full time jobs.
The only way I'd recommend 3 acres at a time would be if you plan to fence it all immediately and put in a lot of browsers after vegetation reestablishes itself.
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Yes that is my plan. To let keep goats, sheep and a cow in there after the pasture seed is established. I do intend to fence the whole thing and make paddoxes and rotate the animals. That way I can keep the animals fed and the pasture maintained. What is costly? The ripping? Anyone have a ball park price for 3 acres ? Last I heard was $8,000 but it probably has gone up. That was a few years ago .
Theresa
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Last I heard the rip-n-roll was $6K/acre, but that was a couple of years ago.
Operator will require somewhere to unload the D9, unless it's driven to the site (use of tracked equipment on the roads is frowned upon).
Pasture would require many many loads of cinder and mulch on top of that.
Fencing is $8-15/foot installed (about 2100' for a typical HA lot) depending who does it, and it will be slightly cheaper once the property is ripped (access), but the fence posts won't set as well (ripped). Recommend involving a fence contractor in the planning.
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costly:
- ripping
- fencing (way more fencing if doing paddocks)
- loads of mulch / cinders / soil
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You might want to consider an area with soil, like the Ihope Rd. subdivision on the other side of the highway. 5 acre lots for 50-80k, much less work and money to make pasture (just get rid of trees)
Just call me Mike
Me ka ha`aha`a,
Mike
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i have to agree with most responses here. people just hear a price for the dozing and don't factor in costs of hauling in dirt. you live on dirt, you haul in rock, you live on rock (HA) you haul in dirt. i just finished fencing my 3 acres and because of the spaghetti lots, even doing it yourself, fairly expensive. remember that is 90 posts each side! at 10-15 a post. renting the rock drill is 180 and each time we got maybe 30 posts, then the fencing. then the cost of the dr. and physical therapist (LOL), then the hurricane dropping trees from neighbors lots unto the new fence, etc. etc. can be done, just maybe start small see if it is what you want. if you really want pasture, it might be cheaper in the long run to buy pasture land. as far as lime, if you use cinder, plan on lime. and with our rain, i lime quite frequently anyway. bei or garden exchange would be your best bet for 50 pound bags.
